I am not a lawyer, I am a judgment referral expert (Judgment Broker). The judgment recovery business has been hurt badly by the recession/depression. Of course, most businesses are now hurting, and we are all connected in some way.

In the old days, before 2004 or so, one could do very well just recording liens on the judgment debtor’s real estate. When houses were being refinanced or sold every year and prices were rising, judgment liens got paid off. Now, a judgment lien is more likely to be stripped off in a bankruptcy court or settled for pennies on the dollar, than to be paid in full. Of course, housing prices go up and down in cycles.

However, some people still have jobs, some live in their home with equity, and many have savings or checking accounts. So the game is not over, but it is no longer a make-a-living-quickly business. Judgment recovery never was a get-rich-quick business.

Many that go into the judgment recovery business do not succeed because they rarely go to court or have enough funding. Most new judgment enforcers get a computer, a phone line, a web site, attract judgment owners, and then do very little with the judments. One must have the money already saved- an average of $300 for small claims and $1,000 for civil court, for each judgment they hope to recover.

A $200,000 judgment is not going to make you $100,000, unless the debtor is rich and you learn how to perform advanced enforcement procedures that take money, knowledge, practice, and skill to perfect – to the point where you are effective against rich debtors that hire a lawyer to thwart your enforcement efforts.

You must read, study, and go to court and be comfortable and competent on all court procedures and paperwork. Judgment recovery is a business where you are always spending, working, and learning. You cannot just read one book and expect instant success.

So, is 2011 a good time to get into the judgment recovery business? Here are five reasons why not:

1) The easy money is gone. Usually, you must work for every dollar.

2) The economy is horrible, most debtors are poor and one cannot recover a judgment against a poor person.

3) Courts and sheriffs are cutting back, increasing fees, and becoming very slow to process paperwork.

4) Many of the good judgments are gone, there are a sea of creditors that shop judgments for years unsuccessfully trying to find someone to buy their judgment for 50 cents on the dollar, or want only a 305 contingency recovery fee.

5) There is apathy, skepticalness, and flakiness washing over many people who are glued to watching and reading terrible news, and tuning out of opening any mail/email besides their bills and friends.

Here are five reasons why now is a still good time to start or be in the judgment recovery business:

1) There are few businesses with more opportunity and less startup costs than judgment recovery. The judgment recovery business is no worse than the average economy-related business.

2) Some judgment enforcers are dishonest and/or currently “burned out” or depressed or jaded or flaking out, and do not quickly answer or return emails or phone calls. By being responsive, you can rise ahead of the slugs.

3) With many judgment enforcers going out of business, it is possible to find used books and training courses at steep discounts. And now, there are free resources on the web to learn about judgment recovery.

4) There are more options now than before. Now, you can easily refer any judgments not right for you to a judgment broker.

5) The most successful people have the right attitude to make things work even when the economy is bad. If you have nothing better to do, learning judgment recovery, or how to find and screen judgment leads, is a constructive and potentially profitable thing to learn.